Monthly Archives: September 2016

As a consolation for his now-delayed album Passion, Pain, & Demon Slayin’, Kid Cudi unleashes a pair of singles — “Frequency” and “Surfin’” — both available via Apple Music.

“Frequency,” which first dropped back in March, is an ode to “curiosity.” “Couple girls, couple stories, and a couple ‘shrooms,” he sings with an Auto-Tuned pitch. “Couple girls make a ni**a feel less alone.”

“Frequency” and “Surfin’” are the opening and closing tracks on Passion, Pain, & Demon Slayin’ respectively, but for now, the rest of the LP is on hold. Yesterday, Cudder announced that the album would be pushed back “due to some minor sample clearances” that are “still being finalized.”

The album, as it was announced, features Willow Smith and Travis Scott, as well as two cuts apiece with Skateboard P and André 3000.

The Democratic presidential nominee appeared on MJB’s “The 411” show on Apple Music for an in-depth interview about female empowerment, police brutality, and public perception.

“I wanted this to be my first interview for the show because I’ve represented, for so long in my music career, a movement of women who are trying to stay strong, be strong, be beautiful, be healthy, and represent leadership,” Blige said in the intro. “I want to move people the way I moved them with my music. I want to move them with my TV show as well.”

In previously-teased promos, Blige sang Bruce Springsteen’s “American Skin (41 Shots),” a track about police brutality. “It means a lot to me because of just everything that’s taking place now,” she explained on the show. “I believe that so many women, African-American women, feel like this when sending their children off to school in the morning.”

Watch Clinton’s response to Blige’s version of “American Skin” and see highlights from the Q&A below.

Clinton on staying the same: “I think I’ve always been the same person. I do believe that when you’re in the public eye, whether it’s in entertainment or it’s in politics, you do have the challenge of presenting yourself and having people perceive you as who you think you are. For me, I’ve always been someone who feels very blessed, very fortunate. I have a very supportive upbringing and family. My faith has guided and lifted me up over the years.”

Clinton on misperceptions: “Some of the misperception is manufactured and some of it, I take responsibility for, that maybe I’m not communicating clearly enough what I care about and what I do. But I try to get up every day and make a different in somebody’s life. I’m very grateful that I’ve had this chance to do that over the years.”

Clinton on faith: “I feel fortunate, as it sounds like you do too, to be a person of faith. That is something I was raised with. I feel very supported, lifted up, guided by my faith. I have been in lots of difficult situations and I find that falling back on my faith, relying on my faith, looking for those moments of grace, is what can get me out of bed in the morning and keep me going no matter what’s happening around me. Being a person of faith has sustained me over the course of my life.”

Clinton on leading as a woman: “I think it’s really hard. I don’t know why it’s so hard. I think it’s rooted in…Tens of thousands of years of how peoples’ lives have been defined…For women to be assuming leading roles in business, entertainment, politics, or whatever it might be, it still is not fully understood because there’s no blueprint for doing it.”

Clinton on police brutality: “I have been so heartbroken over what’s been going on. It’s fundamentally at odds with and wrong that African American parents have to sit their children down and deliver the message you just sang: ‘Be careful.’ And yet we still have so many terrible deaths.”

Clinton on racial divide: “There needs to be a greater opening of our hearts to one another, we’ve got to put ourselves in each other’s shoes, feel the pain that a mother and a father feels when their son and daughter can go out the door, and they don’t know what’s going to happen to them. I particularly want white people to understand what that’s like, and to feel that they must be part of the solution. There’s a lot we need to do.”

Clinton on her playlist: “Right now, I am listening to Hamilton, the soundtrack…I’ve seen it four times, I think…It’s just a work of genius. It’s obsessing me right now. That’s my No. 1 go-to.”

The Birth of a Nation: The Inspired By Album delivers yet another powerful and soulful release thanks to Nas and Raye’s “War.”

On his thought-provoking verses, an insightful Esco directly references Nat Turner, the revolutionary subject of the forthcoming film that inspired the track.

“Even though my name is Nas, I am like Nat,” he raps. “Is this me declaring war? White flags / I now know why I was even born / To strike back / A full moon up in the sky, that’s a sign that / It’s time to get my liberation / The perfect configuration / It’s the birth of a nation.”

The Illmatic wordsmith goes on to address incidents of police brutality around the country with his second verse. “Why doesn’t the government order capital punishment / To officers who racial profile and put slugs in us?” he asks. “Makes me think they want us extinct.”

Speaking to the presidential race, Nas also provides commentary about Republican nominee Donald Trump’s slogan. “Watch out for the traitors,” he raps. “When they say make America great again, do they mean make us all slaves again? Don’t be sidetracked.”

To cap the song off, Nas delivers a potent message about unity against injustice. “Dear America,” he begins. “It’s time for a better America. There’s a little Nat Turner in every one of us. No matter if you’re red, white, black, if you want freedom then we’re all like Nat.”

This is just the latest social commentary to come from The Birth of a Nation: Inspired By Album. Yesterday, Weezy and Guwop unleashed “Oh Lord” and Meek Mill and Pusha T linked up for “Black Moses” off the new LP.

The full project is out now and features a bevy of stars, including the aforementioned acts, as well as 2 Chainz, Vic Mensa, Lecrae, Trey Songz, Ne-Yo, Wale, Anthony Hamilton, and The Game. While the Inspired By album is out now, The Birth of a Nation is slated to hit theaters Oct. 7.

Chloe x Halle continue to soar with their music video for “Fall,” the latest single off of their Sugar Symphony EP.

Beyoncé’s Parkwood duo provides yet another taste of their angelic harmonies over an atmospheric instrumental while whimsically singing hope-filled lyrics in the desert.

“So what if the rain falls?” ask the sisters. “Let’s find the gold at the end of the rainbow / So what if the rain falls? / I’ll shower in shimmers of gold.”

This week, the teen stars performed “Fall” on the “Today” show, where they also discussed their boss Beyoncé’s guidance.

“Ever since we were little girls, we always looked up to her so it was definitely surreal,” Chloe explained. “We’re so grateful we get to share our music on such a huge platform. We’re forever grateful to Beyoncé. She’s as cool as everybody thinks she is.”

And afterwards, 3 Stacks flexes “Da Art of Storytelling” to talk about their lovemaking and his demise. “I got my nut off,” he rhymes. “So there’ll be a part 2.”

The remix may be a surprise to some, but 3 Stacks even surprised the Divine Council crew’s Silk Money when they first met.

“I remember when we first met Andre,” he told Rolling Stone. “That shit blew the fuck out my mind. I didn’t know who the fuck this ni**a was. I was like, ‘This ni**a look just like André 3000.’ And it deadass was André 3000. He was like, ‘What’s up? I’m big fans of y’all.’ I was like, ‘We big fans of you!’ He sat next to us eating tomato soup and shit. That ni**a flew from Texas to New York just to see us perform. He was saying how we remind him of OutKast because he ain’t never heard anything like us. And I was blown away.”

Don’t ring this alarm. For the second release off his November 25 release, Starboy, The Weeknd finds himself head over heels for a lady living the fast life. Check him on SNL this weekend for a live performance of the track and the lead single, “Starboy“.

DJ Mustard stays cool with his sophomore album Cold Summer, which is now available at all digital retailers.

Surprising fans with the impromptu release, the sequel to 2014’s 10 Summers finds the super-producer back in cahoots with his usual musical partners — YG, Ty Dolla $ign, and RJ — along with a bevy of superstar guests including Nicki Minaj, Rick Ross, John Legend, Young Thug, Quavo, Jeremih, and more.

“This past year I’ve grown a lot, both as a producer and a DJ. You can hear it in my music,” said Mustard. “Touring oversees with Rihanna and seeing the fans I have all over the world inspired by me — it was motivation to release this album and not let them down.”

Fans got their first taste of Cold Summer earlier this year, when Mustard dropped his Nicki Minaj and Jeremih-assisted lead single “Don’t Hurt Me.”

Right on time, Mustard unleashes the tundra. Bundle up and stream Cold Summer below.